


leave its rotten edifice behind

by advanced_fanatic



Series: & if that was me, then who am i? [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Jonah Magnus is dead, M/M, Mentioned Jonah Magnus, Monster Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Possible Character Death, Spoilers for The Magnus Archives Season 5, after mag 181, although it's really a setup for an aftermath fic i had an idea for, and it was easy, basically one way i think the world might be saved, because that gave me an Idea, but he doesn't want to be one, it's really up for interpretation, of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26933938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/advanced_fanatic/pseuds/advanced_fanatic
Summary: At the end of the end of the world, Jon and Martin make a choice.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Melanie King & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: & if that was me, then who am i? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965298
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	leave its rotten edifice behind

In the end, it was almost too easy. Jon had all of the knowledge and all of the fear in the world; there was absolutely nothing Jonah Magnus could do against him. Of course, he could always hurt Martin, but it was only temporary, only until Jon turned the full gaze of the Eye on him and he died, almost happy, in the gaze of his Patron.

Nothing changed. 

Martin came back to himself, gasping, his eyes wild and angry. “Is he dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jon said. “Are you alr--well, no, you’re not, but…”

Martin shook his head. “You’re right, I’m not, but that doesn’t matter. Did it...is it over? Is Magnus dead?”

“He’s dead, but…” Jon shook his head. “It’s not over. We’ve weakened the Eye’s connection to the world, but we haven’t broken it, not yet.”

“Right.” Martin frowned. “That would kill you, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s not important,” Jon said. “Look, there is a way. It  _ is _ possible, we just have to...destroy the Panopticon, the seat of its power. I think that might be enough to break its hold on the world, as it were, so we can seal them away.”

“But…”

“We could seal them away  _ completely, _ Martin. The world, it might...it might actually go back!”

“But then you would die!” Martin shouted.

Jon froze. “We, er, we don’t... _ Know _ that, not for certain.”

“Magnus showed me, Jon. He showed me  _ exactly _ how little of your humanity is left. We  _ do _ know that you’ll die. Whether you...you fade, like you did with Salesa, or you’re destroyed, like Magnus,  _ you are going to die.” _

Jon sighed. He had suspected it, but it was nice, to hear it confirmed. “I...it’s a small price to pay, for the world. Besides, if it’s like it was at Salesa’s...I’m not sure, but I don’t think I would die, at least not physically. I’d just...fade.”

“Then that’s not an option,” Martin said. “We live with this, and maybe we’ll find some other way.”

“There is no other way!” Jon said. “I...I  _ destroyed _ the  _ world, _ Martin. The  _ least _ I can do is try to fix it.”

“And destroy yourself in the process?!” 

“Yes, if that’s what needs doing!”

Jon and Martin stared at each other for a moment, at an impasse, before the door opened.

“Basira says the bastard is finally dead, and I don’t care if you guys want to celebrate it, but this probably isn’t the best time to make out,” declared Melanie, somehow managing to glare at them, even sans eyes.

“If we put the world back, Jon might die!” Martin said.

“Yeah, so?” Melanie replied. 

“I--we can’t just  _ sacrifice _ him to save the  _ world! _ That isn’t fair!” Martin said.

“Of course it’s fair,” Jon said. “I ended the world. It’s really the least I can do.”

“Actually, the least you could do is to just, like, do nothing,” Melanie pointed out.

“The least I can do to put things right.”

She shrugged. “Fair.”

“No!” Martin said. “No, it is  _ not _ fair! After--after  _ everything, _ you’re just going to lay down and die?!”

“I’m fairly certain it’ll be quite a bit more active than that,” Jon said dryly. 

“Oh--you know what I mean!” Martin said. “This is basically suicide.”

“I should have died years ago, Martin,” Jon said. “This will just be...setting things right, as it were.”

“No, it isn’t!” Martin glared at them both, although the effect was lost on Melanie. “This isn’t fair! What’s the point of setting the world to rights if you aren’t around to enjoy it?”

“You will be,” Jon said. “And Georgie, and Melanie, and Basira, and everyone else. I’m hardly worth sacrificing the world for.”

Martin’s frown deepened, and he turned to Jon. “You’re worth it to me.”

Melanie mimed barfing behind Martin’s back.

“What about all the people in the domains? All of them, suffering. You...you don’t like them suffering, I  _ know _ you don’t. I Know it. You can’t...doom them all just because you want me to live.”

Martin’s face fell. “Technically, it wouldn’t be dooming them…”

“It would,” Melanie said. “It absolutely, definitely would. Come on, guys, the sooner we get this done with, the better.”

“And the longer we wait, the more the Eye heals,” Jon added. “I can feel it. We weakened it, killing Magnus, but...all that power is starting to go into  _ me, _ and...I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to burn down the Archives. I don’t know how much longer I’ll even be me.”

Martin sucked in a breath, then slowly blew it out again. “Fine. Fine! But I can’t...you  _ can’t _ make me watch you die, Jon. I can’t...I can’t do it.”

“Alright,” Jon said. “I...alright. I know I can’t ask that of you.”

“I’m sorry,” Martin said.

“It’s alright,” Jon said, and they embraced and then kissed. It was long, and bittersweet: the last kiss they’d ever have. Melanie made a retching noise behind them. “Oh, fuck off, you can’t even see us!”   
“I don’t need to see you to know you’re being gross,” she retorted. “Come on. We’re wasting time.”

“Jon’s going to die!”

“I know,” she said. “And, yeah, that sucks. But from what I heard, he’s gonna die regardless, and this way, at least he’ll still be himself when he goes.”

“Melanie’s right,” Jon said. “And...I love you, Martin, and I want to die still knowing that. Still knowing what that is.”

“I love you too,” Martin said.

And the Archives burned, and as they burned the Eye in the sky vanished, and fires went out, and people grasped their identities once more. The sun rose, and the Hunters found other things more important than the chase, and the hospitals full of terrible doctors vanished. Around the world, people clawed their way out of the ground, gasping under the sun, and others clutched the ground, finally removed from the Beast. Gardens crumbled, and people streamed out of the gates, moving towards contentment in their own skin. And the Archives burned, and when they crumbled into ash, an empty man remained, but the world was full and free again, and so hardly anyone noticed.


End file.
